Most of what I write on here is practical stuff about getting your business found on Google, but every now and then someone asks how I ended up doing this for a living and why on earth the business is named after me. So grab a cuppa, because this one’s a bit more personal, covering twenty years of SEO and digital marketing, a few different business names, plenty of lessons learnt the hard way and the reasons I think the way small businesses buy marketing has changed for good.
Where it started: the computer guy at CMA CGM
Back in 2005 I was working for the shipping line CMA CGM in Liverpool city centre, where I was the IT guy that everybody shouted for when a printer jammed or an email went missing, and also the one who knew his way around the web better than most. I spent a lot of my spare time building websites and trying to work out why some of them turned up on search engines while others sank without a trace, and the more I learnt the more I wanted to know.
At some point that hobby started to feel like the thing I should really be doing, so I did what plenty of people dream about and very few actually go through with, which was to hand in my notice and set up on my own.
Pirl Media and a first client in Manhattan
My first business was called Pirl Media, a name made from the initials of my family, which probably tells you where my priorities were even back then. It didn’t take long to realise I had a knack for getting websites found, and word started to spread a lot further than I’d ever expected it to.
One of my very first clients wasn’t in Liverpool at all. Dr Adam Tonis, a doctor based in Manhattan, New York, asked me to build, manage and market his business at the time, nightdaymedical.com. Looking back it was a bit mad, because I was thousands of miles away and five hours behind, working on a business in one of the most competitive cities on the planet from a desk in Liverpool.
I did a good job for Adam and his business, and I’ll never forget the trust he showed in a lad from Liverpool he’d never met in person. That trust taught me something I still think about every single week, which is that people don’t really buy SEO, they buy the person they believe is going to look after them.
Watching search change, and change again
When you’ve been in this game for twenty years you see search reinvent itself more times than you can count. Yahoo was still a big deal when I started, Google went from being one search engine among many to the one everybody uses, Bing grew into something worth taking seriously, and now AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude are answering questions that used to go straight into a search box. I’ve written about where that’s heading in AI SEO: what you need to know.
Along the way we all went through a pandemic that turned every small business upside down, and plenty of the tricks people swore by in the early days either stopped working or started getting sites punished. The businesses that came through all of it were the ones doing the basics properly, with a clear website, a well kept Google listing and genuine reviews from real customers, and that’s still what I build everything around today.
Mersey SEO and a busy Liverpool market
As the years went on I found myself more and more committed to SEO over everything else, so I set up Mersey SEO, which is the old name for this website. Competition was tough, and to be fair there are some genuinely great SEO people in and around Liverpool who keep me on my toes, but the business grew year after year, mostly through recommendations from clients who were getting results and telling their mates about it.
Why I started hiPete in 2024
In 2024 I went through some difficult personal times, and while that was hard going, it gave me the chance to step back and take a long look at how I was running things. What struck me most was how much small businesses had changed in what they wanted from someone like me, especially as AI started popping up in every corner of the internet.
Owners didn’t want to be passed from an account manager to a content writer to somebody in reporting who’d never heard of them. They wanted to speak to the person actually doing the work, they wanted reporting they could understand in a couple of minutes and they wanted to know exactly what they were paying and why, so I rebuilt the business around those three things and called it hiPete.
I know putting your own name on the business can sound a bit big headed, and I did think twice about it. Over the years, though, the thing customers have asked for more than anything is to talk to the owner, the person who’s responsible when something goes right or wrong, and putting my name on the door felt like the most honest way of saying that’s exactly who you get.
Away from SEO
Since you’ll be dealing with me directly, it’s only fair you know a bit about who I am outside of work. I’m a dad of two and very much a family man, and my kids are the reason I work as hard as I do, as well as the reason I keep the client list to a size where I can do a proper job and still be home for tea.
I’m also an Everton supporter, which I like to tell people is punishment for something terrible I did in a former life. Don’t worry if you follow a different team, because Reds and fans of every other club are more than welcome here, and I promise I won’t hold it against your rankings.
Lessons learnt along the way
It hasn’t all been plain sailing, and over the years I’ve wasted money on things that didn’t work and spent money well on things that did. I’d like to think my clients get the benefit of every one of those lessons, and a few of them have stuck with me more than the rest.
- Trust is everything. Adam trusted me from the other side of the Atlantic, every client since has taken a similar leap, and keeping that trust matters more to me than any single ranking.
- Simple beats clever. The basics done properly every week will beat a clever trick every time, which is the whole idea behind what you should get for a monthly SEO fee.
- Nobody should be locked in. If the work’s good people stay, so I’ve no interest in long contracts, and I explain why in why I work 30 day rolling.
- Take on less and do it better. Saying yes to everyone is the quickest way to let people down, which is why I keep the client list deliberately small.
Where hiPete is now
I’m pleased to say the business is flying. We deliberately limit how many clients we take on, so nobody gets rushed and we’re never stretched too thin, and at the time of writing every one of our clients sits at the top of Google for at least seven of the ten searches we’ve agreed to target together. You can see a few of them on the homepage and in the H2o Restored case study.
My ambition now is to take hiPete to the next level without losing what makes it work. That means more of the right clients, more of the services they keep asking me for, like Local Services Ads and getting named by AI tools, and the same promise that you’ll always be dealing with me.
Fancy working with me?
If you’ve read this far then thank you, it genuinely means a lot. If you run a business and you’re tired of being passed around, or you’re paying for SEO every month without really knowing what you’re getting for it, I’d love to have a chat, and here’s what working with me looks like.
- You deal with me from the first message right through to the monthly report, with my team on Boundary Street behind me.
- One clear price of £125 a week covers your SEO, AI visibility and looking after your website, with no setup fee.
- There’s no contract, just a 30 day rolling agreement, because I’d rather earn your business every month.
- The reporting is easy to follow through a live reporting portal that you can check on your phone whenever you like.
- We agree ten searches that matter to your business at the start, and I work on them every single week.
I only take on a limited number of clients at a time, so if you’re interested it’s worth getting in touch sooner rather than later. The free check below is the easiest place to start, and you can find more about me and what my clients say on the reviews page.
Let’s have a chat
Send me your website and tell me a bit about your business, and I’ll look at your site and Google listing myself before coming back with an honest view of where you stand and what I’d do first.
There’s no sales pitch, and you keep the advice whatever you decide.
Free website check
Checked by me, not a tool.
Rather message? WhatsApp 07463 631121 or call 0151 402 0925.
Questions people ask me
Who is Pete Duffy?
I’m a Liverpool SEO consultant and the owner of hiPete, and I’ve been doing SEO and digital marketing since 2005, first as Pirl Media, then as Mersey SEO and now as hiPete.
How long have you been doing SEO?
Over twenty years, ever since I left my job as the IT guy at CMA CGM in Liverpool city centre back in 2005.
Why is the business called hiPete?
Customers kept telling me they wanted to talk to the owner, so I put my name on the door to make it clear that’s exactly who you deal with.
Will I deal with you or a team?
You deal with me from the very first message, and while I’ve got a team behind me, I stay your one point of contact the whole way through.
How many clients do you take on?
Only a limited number at a time, so that every client gets proper attention and nobody gets rushed.
How much does it cost?
It’s £125 a week on a 30 day rolling agreement, which covers your SEO, AI visibility and looking after your website.
Do you only work with Liverpool businesses?
Mostly, but not only, as I work across Merseyside, Cheshire and West Lancashire, and one of my very first clients was in New York.
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